It’s a paradox we all know about, but we rarely take action unless it directly impacts us. We’re talking, of course, about feeling depressed during the holiday season.

Plenty of people get sad when the weather turns cold. Some of them also get SAD. Seasonal affective disorder is a diagnosable form of depression.

You probably have a favorite season and one you barely tolerate. If you are like most people winter is what lands firmly in the “barely tolerate” category.

Depression, however, is much more than sadness and loss. At first, you can’t tell the difference. But after a few weeks pass, you may notice that you’re not bouncing back.

The answer is not as straightforward as you may have thought. There are plenty of factors that combine to create “depression” in an individual.

Like almost anything in life, there are degrees of severity to depression. Some people may only feel blue every once in a while and others may have a daily impact of depression. On the furthest end of the scale lies major depression, a persistent and penetrating form of depression.

Emotional pain is real and it is painful. Sometimes, emotional pain can be just as hurtful as physical pain. Emotional pain can come from a lot of different places, including relationships, a painful loss, or witnessing something traumatic. 

At the best of times, struggling with anxiety and depression can feel like a war inside your mind. Explaining these feelings to the people in your life can heighten these feelings, making it feel almost impossible. 

We have all had the blues before. While these feelings are real and valid, depression goes much deeper than a momentary wave of sadness.

One of the biggest obstacles when it comes to recognizing depression in men is understanding how it manifests. Contrary to popular belief, men show different traits of being depressed than women.  

Learning to cope with your depression in an effective manner may sound impossible, but it can be done.

Depression is not weakness or simply sadness, it goes much deeper than that. Although depression is a multifaceted mental health condition, we do know what some of the main causes are.

Many people believe that depression is synonymous with deep sadness. But this is a misconception.